Tension Mounting
by CeredwenFlame
Summary: Rated for possible future chapters. This is a continuation of Kameka's Tension Released. If you want to know more, you'll have to read on... mwuahahaha. :)
1. Tension Mounting

Tension Mounting.  
  
A continuation of Kameka's Tension Released. Thank you for the wonderful story Kameka. I was inspired. I hope you like this. I too like the Ian/Sara pairing, but I think Kameka's muse must be messing with my head too now LOL. I just couldn't help it after reading the story, I wanted more dang it. Also, please READ and Review. I don't know if there'll be more, but if you like it, I'll certainly try.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, TNT and Top Cow do. Lucky them. huh? I'm only playing with them for the dreams and such of other fans like myself. I am making nothing off of this, though wouldn't it be great if TNT reps came here and we all got paid to do this? Ah well just another pipe dream I guess. but here's to hoping!  
  
Summary: You'll just have to read on to find out }:-)  
  
Notes: I have two other Witchblade stories, if you'd like to read more of my stuff. Just click on my name to find out what else I have lurking on this site. hehehe. Also, if you do read them, please review them so I know that people like it and want me to continue. THANK YOU!!!!!! Love y'all Lots.  
  
As Gabriel made his way to Sara's apartment, he contemplated what he was going to say. He also contemplated what had just happened at his shop. What was the deal with Nottingham anyway? Was the psycho stalker just doing it because Irons didn't want anyone close to Sara, or was it because Nottingham wanted her for himself? Gabe couldn't be sure. This whole thing was weird, none of it really made sense. But then again, what had since Sara and the Witchblade had entered his life? Finally, he had reached Sara's building. Before going up, he sat upon the stoop to contemplate just how he was going to go about doing this. Part of him had hoped that the Buell would not be there, and a part of him was almost exhilarated by the fact that it was there, that Sara was indeed home.  
  
"No use fighting it now Bowman. You've got to face her sometime. Right?" he said to himself as he made his way up into the building. He was standing outside her door trying to make himself calm down before knocking when the door opened.  
  
"What are you doing out here Gabe?"  
  
"Um. Was just going to knock. Um.. Need to. to talk with you." Gabriel stammered, trying to remember why he was here.  
  
"Get in here." Sara said with an amused grin as she stepped aside to let him in. Once they were inside and the door was shut, Sara made her way into the main area of the apartment.  
  
"Can I get you something to drink?"  
  
"Yeah alcohol." Gabe said lack luster.  
  
"What's the matter Gabe?"  
  
"Just. * Sigh *"  
  
"Okay Bowman, spill." Sara said as she eyed him suspiciously before making her way to the chair beside the couch where Gabriel had planted himself.  
  
"For starters, your stalker must be getting jealous or possessive or something, because he visited me again."  
  
"What? He didn't hurt you did he?"  
  
"No. scared me a little though."  
  
"What'd he do?"  
  
"Told me to make sure that I don't become anything more than your friend."  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"My guess is he saw me giving you the massage. it also may have a little to do with the main reason I came here to talk to you. I guess."  
  
"You guess? What's up Gabriel?" Sara asked, truly confused now. Gabriel looked at her, then looked away. Was he blushing? He sighed, his shoulders slumped. then he took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.  
  
"Well. for a while now. and more so after recent events. I've. I have. * Sigh * I like you Sara."  
  
"I like you too Gabe."  
  
"No Sara, I mean. as more than a friend." He said so quietly that it was almost inaudible. Sara mouthed a silent Oh.  
  
"When did this.?"  
  
"Hmm a while ago. not sure really. But you came into my life and lit up the darkness. You're something else Sara. You're more. you're not of this world."  
  
"Yeah I am." Sara said about to say more when Gabe continued.  
  
"No Sara, you're not. You're different, special. And you would be whether you had the Witchblade or not. You shine. you're. amazing." Gabe said looking away again a deffinate blush on his face. Sara was amazed. she too was blushing. She didn't know what to think, here was someone whom she looked on as a little brother. and he was confessing all of this to her. What was she to do now?  
  
"Wh-what did you mean by recent events?" Sara asked softly. Gabe started, surprised by the question, but didn't look at her.  
  
"The massage. * Sigh * Being so close to you. feeling how soft your skin is. Being allowed past your barriers even if only for that little bit of time. Feeling you melt at my touch. he-hearing those soft moans..." His voice trailed off. he had to stop before he got aroused again. Sara's eyes widened then softened and the blush crept over her skin more intensely making her warm. too warm.  
  
"Oh. Gabriel. I hadn't realized."  
  
"Yeah neither did I till I got home that night. Well that's not entirely true. but what I mean is I didn't realize how much it truly affected me. You've been on my thoughts non stop since then Sara. And I know that you don't see me that way, and I don't mind. really. I just. I don't know." Gabe put his head in his hands willing the tears and overflow of emotions back. Sara tentatively reached out to him, putting her hand on his shoulder wanting to comfort him. He didn't pull away, but he trembled at her touch.  
  
"I'm so sorry Gabe."  
  
"For what? You couldn't have known."  
  
"Is there. anything else you need to tell me? Is there anything I can."  
  
"I don't know what you could do Sara. and as for anything else I need to tell you, well, I'm not too sure on that either. I don't know what to do now. I had hoped I wouldn't have to talk to you about this. Because I know that you don't see me the same way that I see you." 


	2. Temperatures Rising

Chapter 2 Temperatures Rising  
  
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own it, only wish I did. I'm not making money off of this, only wish they were paying me. * Sigh * Guess that's how it is. Huh?  
  
Note: Sara's point of view at least to start this chapter out. I think that we need to get into her head. after all I think our angel needs a break for the moment. but only for the moment ;)  
  
**  
  
Sara sat there studying the young man before her. He looked so young just then. so innocent and so - sad, and she herself was at least partially to blame. How could she not have noticed that Gabe had been falling for her? Ever since she had acquired the Witchblade, some of her senses were indeed getting sharper, but other senses seemed to have dulled. Her sense of men seemed to have dulled. She used to know them better than she knew women, and now here was one before her that had just puzzled her. There seemed to be a few of those these days..  
  
There was her rookie partner Jake. There was something that he wasn't sharing with her. He was hiding something. There was just something that didn't sit right with her about the surfer cop. There was Kenneth Irons who even though he was dead, was still haunting her through his connection to the Witchblade and through Ian. Ah yes, Ian. What was wrong with him? One moment he was himself and the next he's too much like his dead boss. Sara didn't like it. She wanted it to stop. Even Danny, her partner and best friend seemed a little off. As if there was some dark cloud hanging over him - haunting him. And now there was Gabriel Bowman. Someone who she had first seen as odd. who had turned out to be a better and more reliable friend than anyone she knew. even Danny. Though Danny was partially her fault, for some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell him about the Witchblade. Maybe that was because he had a family and she didn't want to possibly endanger them.  
  
Gabriel. young, sweet, smart, funny, eclectic.. interesting Gabriel. How old was he anyway? She didn't think that he was too much her junior. He had to be in his mid twenties. After Gabe had let his secret truths pour out to her from his very soul, Sara decided that she needed to re-evaluate him. She looked at him. Studying him with all the training of a homicide cop and all the compassion of a woman. Soft, kind eyes that were deep and intense at the same time - so warm and inviting that it could be quite possible to get lost in them. That silken, always disheveled hair of his. it made him look forever tousled and yet, at the same time it fit him. It was pure Gabriel. she couldn't picture him with any other hairstyle. That pale skin the color of fresh cream. it made him look almost otherworldly. Funny that she should choose that term after all, hadn't Gabe said that she herself was 'not of this world'? That five o'clock shadow that forever seemed to be there, never a beard, never clean shaven. just a perpetual ghost of shadows on the planes of his face. He wasn't a big guy per say, oh he was tall. but he was thin. though surprisingly strong. He wasn't an intimidating figure, but there was an iron will within that body that made him more than what he seemed. He was also somewhat possessive of the people he cared about. He felt things deeply, a very sensitive soul. All in all, Sara could see how he came to be named after an angel. It fit him. He had the innocence of an angel and yet he could also have the wrath of an avenging angel when those he cared for were threatened.  
  
'I sure have underestimated him all this time.' Sara thought to herself. 'I wonder what else I've overlooked.' She wasn't sure that she should pursue something with him, but she also wasn't sure that she should just turn him away either. This was a fragile soul in danger of slipping through the cracks. of slipping through her fingers. This could be a chance for something. well she wasn't quite sure what it could be. There was no denying that she cared deeply for him. She'd always dismissed it as feeling like a sister to him. but was that entirely true? She was fiercely protective of the fragile looking boy before her. More so than she could recall being for anyone. 'Perhaps what I feel is more than what I have let myself believe it to be.' Suddenly, Sara was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of the door opening.  
  
"Just where do you think you're going?" She called out.  
  
"I thought the Witchblade had you in visions again. * Sigh * I was going to leave you to them."  
  
"The Witchblade hasn't been active since your arrival here. I was just thinking."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Shut that door and get back over here, and I'll tell you." She said softly. He shut the door and returned to his place on her couch. Sara got up from her chair and sat near him on the couch, though maintaining enough distance to avoid entering his personal space.  
  
"I was thinking about you. I realized that I haven't really thought about how I feel about you or where you stand in my life. You've always been a friend, but I never looked deeper than that, and I should have. I'm sorry Gabe." Sara said, it was her turn to study the carpet. Gabe was struck silent. He didn't know what to say now. But he didn't have to talk, Sara was speaking again.  
  
"You've always been there for me. You've stuck your neck out for me even when no one else would. You've never turned me away. Always ready with information, smart quips or just funny antics. You've been a better friend to me than anyone else in recent memory. Things with Danny are tense. he seems haunted. and I think I'm to blame for that in some regard. All this time that you've been there, I don't think I ever really looked into it. I never looked into myself. I just went with what was on the surface. And that isn't fair to either of us, but it especially unfair to you. You don't deserve it Gabe. You deserve more."  
  
"Do I?" He said softly, so softly that the Witchblade had to echo the words back to its Wielder.  
  
"Yes, you do. Now I'm not saying that we're going to be lovers or anything like that right now. What I am saying is, that if you're willing. If you want to. I'd be willing to re-evaluate how I feel about you. Our relationship. I'm a little afraid of endangering the friendship that we have. But I have to admit, I do care about you quite a bit Bowman. I'm more fiercely protective of you than I am of anyone else, even Danny. I don't want to hurt you Gabe, I need you to know that, to understand that. I'm in a dangerous line of work, I'm in a dangerous line of destiny. I don't know if this is going anywhere, but I can't say that it isn't either. So what do you say?"  
  
"Um.. * nervous laugh * I'm not sure I mean I'm not sure I caught all of what you just said."  
  
"I'm saying that if you would like, I would like to try and see what's between us. Bearing in mind what we already have and the fact that I don't want to hurt you." Sara said softly. Gabriel could only sit there with his mouth open. Had he just heard what he though he just heard? 


End file.
